Method and apparatus for producing shirt cuffs and the like

ABSTRACT

Method and apparatus for producing shirt cuffs, or the like, using continuous strips of fabric and lining plies which are folded by means of a folder and longitudinally seamed by means of a double needle sewing machine. After being longitudinally seamed, pairs of transverse seams are simultaneously formed and segments are cut from the strip between those seams which form a pair of transverse seams. The cut off segments are cuffs which are ready to be inverted and set into the sleeve of a shirt.

United States Patent 1 Chercass Y 1111' 3,710,742 [451 Jan. 16, 1973 [76] Inventor: William Chercass, 2105 Woodlawn St., Allentown, Pa. 18104 22 Filed: March 2,1972

21 App1.NO.: 231,164

[52] US. Cl. ..ll2/12l.27, 112/147, 112/262 [51] Int. Cl; ..D05b 1/00 [58] Field ofSearch ..l12/262,121.11,10,121.27,

['56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 7 3,670,679 6/1972 Campbell ..1 12/262 S E WI N G MACHINE NO.2-

MACHINE No.1 I

9/1968 Johnson et al ..l12/130 X Primary Examiner-41. Hampton Hunter Attorney-Robert D. Flynn et a1.'

[ 5 7 ABSTRACT Method and apparatus for producing shirt cuffs, or the like, using continuous strips of fabric and lining plies which are folded by means of a folder and longitudinally seamed by means of a double needle sewing machine. After being longitudinally seamed, pairs of transverse seams are simultaneously formed and segments are cut from the strip between those seams which form a pair of transverse seams. The cut off segments are cuffs which are ready to be inverted and set into the sleeve of a shirt.

14 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures OPERATOR No.2

OPERATOR No.1

FEEDING STATION /-1 PATENTEDJMI 16 1973 a sum 1 [1F 2 S Ewl N (3 STATION SE G ST N FOLDING STATION FEEDIN STATIO PATENTEDJAN 16 I973 SHEET 2 UF 2 OPERATOR No.2 I

OPERATOR N01 SEWING I MACHINE N01 FEEDING STATION 1 METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR PRODUCING SHIRT CUFFS AND THE LIKE This invention relates to an improved method and apparatus for producing cuffs for shirts and the like.

Various methods have heretofore been proposed for making cuffs. These prior methods generally involved pre-cutting the various plies required in the cuff and then operating on these pre-cut plies to form the finished shirt cuff. It was necessary for individual operators to cut and handle the plies, to align the plies and to then make the various seams necessary in fabrication of a cuff. A typical cuff requires two fabric plies and one lining ply. According to the prior art, first the lining and the top ply are folded and sewn. Then the bottom fabric ply is stitched to the top and lining plies with the various plies in proper alignment. Typical methods of making cuffs according to the prior art are disclosed, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,769,178; 3,191,557; and 3,257,663. The method disclosed in US. Pat. No. 3,191,557 is somewhat more automated than the other prior methods, but still the basic procedure of cutting then performing various other required operations .is carried out. The apparatus required to perform the method disclosed in US. Pat. No. 3,191,557 is rather complicated and, therefore, would be expensive and may possibly have a higher failure rate.

The main object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved method and apparatus for efficiently fabricating shirt cuffs and the like, which minimizes handling and individual cutting operations, and 'which simplifies the stitching operations to the point where the need for specially trained operators is virtually eliminated. Further, when making shirts, the present invention eliminates the necessity to handle 72 pieces of material to fabricate cuffs for a dozen shirts.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In accordance with the method ofthe present invention, continuousstrips of first and second fabric plies and a lining ply are fed through a folder which folds one edge. portion of the second fabric ply back on itself to provide clearance for a stitching operation. The thus folded continuous strips of plies are fed to a first sewing station, preferably having a plurality of sewing needles, for sewing a first seam in the longitudinal direction of the strips for joining together the free edge portions of all three plies and for sewing a second longitudinal seam along the edge of said lining ply which is overlapped with the first fabric ply to join the overlapped first fabric ply to the lining ply. The thus seamed continuous strips are fed to a second sewing station wherein pairs of seams are sewed at predetermined spacings from adjacent pairs of seams in a direction substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal seams, the pairs of seams being sewn through all three plies. The sewn together fabric plies are severed intermediate the two seams which form a pair of seams, the resulting segments of sewn together fabric plies comprising a BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 illustrates in block schematic form a typical apparatus arrangement for carrying out the method of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged front perspective view of a DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring to FIGS. 1-4, long strips of material plies are fed from a feeding device 1 to the folding station 2 which comprises a folding device 5 (shown in detail in FIGS. 2 and 3) wherein the material plies are folded in a manner illustrated in FIGS. 2-4. The plies involved include a lining ply 6, top cuff fabric ply 7 and bottom cuff fabric ply 8. The plies are folded so that one edge portion 7a of top cuff ply 7 is folded around and over an edge portion 6a of lining ply 6. An edge portion 8a of bottom cuff ply 8 is folded back on itself 'to provide clearance for a subsequent sewing operation which is described hereinbelow.

From the folding station'2, the folded strips of plies are fed to a first sewing station 3 wherein scams 9 and 10 (see FIGS. .4 and 5) are formed in the longitudinal direction of the plies. Seams 9 and 10 are shown schematically by dashed lines in FIGS. 3 and 4. Portion 8a of bottom cuff ply 8 was folded back on itself to provide clearance so that seam 10 does not engage the bottom cufi ply 8. Only seam 9 engages and joins together all three plies 68. At this point, the longitudinally seamed fabric plies are still in a continuous strip.

From the first sewing station 3, the longitudinally sewn together plies are fed to a second sewing station 4, describedbelow, wherein pairs of seams 11, 12; 11, 12'; etc., are formed. FIG. 5 illustrates the pairs of seams ll, 12', etc. The spacing d between centers of pairs of seams ll, 12 and 11', 12' is dependent upon the particular size of cuff being manufactured. The spacing d between adjacent seams l1 and 12 which fonn a pair of seams is sufficient to allow adjacently formed cuffs to be easily severed along the chain-link lines 13 (see FIG. 5) without causing unravelling of the severed edges of the fabric plies. After severing along lines 13, there results a plurality of formed and sewn cuffs which merely must be inverted and attached to a shirt, or the like, in the normal manner. It is pointed out that during the operation of forming seams 1 l and 12, the previously folded over portion 8a (FIG. 4) of the bottom cuff ply 8 is unfolded (FIG. 5) so that portion 8a overlies the area of top cuff ply 7 and lining ply 6 which were sewn together by seam 10. This is clearly 'shown in FIG. 5.

' cally severed along line 13 at the second sewing station 4 during the same operation as the forming of scams 1 1 and 12. This may be accomplished by using a type of sewing machine having two spaced needles 14 and 15 with a cutting member 16 extending therebetween. Such sewing machines capable of performing such a simultaneously seaming and cutting operation are known in the art and are exemplified, for example, by a two-needle Consew industrial type sewing machine (for example, Consew Model 325) equipped with a pair of needles and a cutter extending therebetween. The cutter 16 is preferably secured to the fabric advancing mechanism located below the fabric (not shown in FIG. of the sewing machine which is located below the fabric on the bed of the machine (not shown in FIG. 5) in order to provide a reciprocating motion to the cutter 16 to facilitate the cutting operation and to provide a smooth cut. The cutter 16 extends in a slot of a presser foot 17, which is otherwise of standard construction. In FIG. 5, 'the sewing platform, sewing mechanisms, etc., of the sewing machine are not shown so as not to unduly complicate the illustration and description. of the needles and cutting member. An adjustable stop 18 is provided to adjust the size of the cuff by effectively varying the distance d,, as should be apparent. Stop 18 may be as long as is necessary to provide a full range of adjustment for desired cuff sizes.

In FIG. 5, the two needles l4 and have a spacing d therebetween. The ridged fabric advancing mechanism (which is mounted on the work surface or bed of the sewing machine) has the cutting member 17 extending upwardly therefrom. As the advancing mechanism reciprocates to advance the fabric on-the sewing machine, the cutting member 17 likewise reciprocates, thereby providing an advantageous cutting motion to facilitate cutting the advancing fabric. Thus, adjacently formed cuffs are simultaneously seamed and severed from each other in an efficient manner.

The sewing machine employed at the first sewing stav tion 3 may, for example, be a well known Singer sewing machine (for example, Singer 52 class) equipped with a multi-needle foot. Such multi-needle sewing feet are exemplified, for example, by Consew part numbers 3l384, 30391, etc. Although such machines are capable for use with more than two needles, it is pointed out that only two needles are required with a predetermined spacing therebetween to form seams 9 and 10 on the continuous strip of folded plies. If additional longitudinal seams are desired, additional needles may be used on the machine.

Folding device 5 of FIGS. 2 and 3 is preferably formed of sheet. metal which is formed to provide passages for the material plies 6-8. The passages are so formed as to fold fabric plies 7 and 8 as illustrated. The passage for fabric ply 8 is most clearly shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 and it should be clear to those skilled in the art how the various plies are folded by the folding device 5. A tab portion 19 is provided to secure folding device 5 to a work surface and a wire material guide 20 (shown only in FIG. 2) is provided to support fabric ply 8 at the input to the folding device 5.

The fabric and lining plies 6-8 may be fed to folder 5 either from rolls of continuous material strips which are pre-cut to the desired width, or from a cutting machine which cuts predetermined widths from sheets of material and feeds the cut widths of material to the folding device 5 in folding station 2. The particular manner in which the feeding of strips of fabric to the folding station 2 is performed is dependent upon the particular application and the types of material being used.

FIG. 6 illustrates a typical installation for carrying out the present invention using two sewing machines and two operators. The folded plies from folding device 5 are fed directly to sewing station no. 1 in the direction of arrows A for making scams 9 and 10. Operator no. 1 then feeds the seamed plies to operator no. 2 at sewing station no. 2 for cutting and making seams l1 and 12. The plies are fed in the direction of arrow B at sewing station no. 2. While the L-shaped configuration of FIG. 6 has been found convenient and efficient, other suitable configurations can be used depending upon, for example, available floor space.

Using the above described method for producing shirt cufi's, it is possible to more efficiently conduct the manufacturing operation. For example, heretofore, it was necessary to provide relatively skilled personnel for cutting the various pliesto the sizes of individual cuffs and for stacking same. While this may be done by machine, it is still necessary to attend to the machine and periodically, the machine needed maintenance.

This type of machine and the operator thereof can be completely eliminated by the use of the present invention. Further, according to the prior art techniques, it was more difficult to handle the individual cut plies involved in forming a finished cuff for a shirt. Thus, efficiency was lower. Since each piece was individually handled, it was difficult to properly align the various plies to form the cuff with the desired accuracy. Also, it was necessary to employ a number of sewing machine operators to fabricate cuffs from the cut plies according to the prior art techniques. When using the technique of the present invention, it is possible to substantially reduce the number of sewing machine operators required to achieve a corresponding cuff output. The seams 9 and 10 of the present invention are formed in a continuous manner and once the apparatus is aligned, the apparatus remains in alignment, thus providing more accurate results. Seams 11 and 12 are simultaneously formed and preferably, the plies'are.

severed between seams 11 and 12 automatically. Only a single operator is required to perform this combined operation. Since the operations which form the method of the present invention are all rather simple in nature, they may be more quickly performed with better accuracy than was heretofore possible. Also, fewer skilled personnel is required. Thus, it is possible to substantially reduce the labor cost for producing cuffs for shirts and the like when using the method of the present invention.

It should be clear that various modifications to the present invention may be made by those skilled in the art within the scope of this invention as defined in the accompanying claims.

I claim:

1. Method of fabricating a plurality of cuffs, or the like, from continuous strips of first (7) and second (8) plies and a continuous strip of lining ply (6), comprising the steps of:

continuously feeding said first ply (7) overlying said lining ply (6) and said second ply (8) overlying said first first ply (7 continuously folding a longitudinal edge portion (7a) of said continuous strip first ply (7) around a longitudinal edge portion (6a) of said continuous strip lining ply (6) at a given work station, and simultaneously therewith continuously folding a longitudinal edge portion (8a) of said continuous strip second ply (8) back on itself at said given work station so as to clear a folded over portion of said first ply (7);

simultaneously seaming said plies with first and second scams (9 and 10) at transversely opposed portions of said folded plies, said first seam (9) joining the free longitudinal edges of all of said plies and said second seam (l0) joining said cleared and folded over portion (7a) of said first ply (7) and said edge portion (6a) of said lining ply (6), said first and second seams being formed in the longitudinal direction of said strips of plies;

unfolding said folded back portion of said second ply then seaming said plies with pairs of closely spaced seams (l1 and 12), each said pair of seams being spaced from the next pair of seams by a predetermined distance (d which determines the size of said cuffs or the like, and which pairs of seams are substantially perpendicular to said first and second seams; and

severing sections of said plies between the closely spaced seams (11 and 12) forming said pairs of seams to thereby provide finished cuffs or the like.

2. The method according to claim 1 wherein said first ply (7 is a top cuff fabric ply and said second ply (8) is a bottom cuff fabric ply.

f 3. The method according to claim 1 wherein said first and second scams (9 and 10) are formed on a single sewing machine.

4. The method according to claim 1 wherein said seams 11 and 12) forming a pair of seams are formed simultaneously on a single sewing machine.

5. The method according to claim 4 wherein said plies are severed between said seams (l l and 12) forming a pair of seams simultaneous with the forming of said pairs of seams by means of a movable cutter on said single sewing machine.

6. The method according to claim 5. wherein said plies are severed by reciprocating said cutter.

7. The method according to claim 1 wherein said plies are severed between said seams (l l and 12) forming a pair of seams simultaneous with the forming of said pairs of seams.

8. The method according to claim 1 comprising the step of turning said cuff to prepare same for attachment to a shirt or the like, after said severing step.

9. Apparatus for fabricating cuffs, or the like, from continuous strips of first (7) and second (8) plies and a continuous strip oflining ply (6), comprising:

means for continuously feeding said first ply (7) overlying said lining ply (6) and said second ply (8) overlying said first ply (7);

a folding device (5) receiving said continuous strips from said feeding means and continuously folding a longitudinal edge portion (7a) of said continuous strip first ply (7) around a longitudinal edge portion (6a) of said continuous strip lining ply (6) at a given work station, therewith continuously folding a longitudinal edge portion (8a) of said continuous strip second ply (8) back on itself at said given work station so as to clear a folded over portion of said first ply (7 a first sewing station for longitudinally seaming said plies simultaneously with first and second longitudinal seams (9 and 10) at transversely opposed portions of said folded plies, said first seam (9) joining the free longitudinal edges of all of said plies and said second seam (10) joining said cleared and folded over portion (7a) of said first ply (7) and said edge portion (6a) of said lining ply second sewing station for seaming said plies with pairs of closely spaced seams (11 and 12), which pairs of seams are substantially perpendicular to said first and second longitudinal seams, each said pair of seams being spaced from the next pair of seams by a predetermined distance (d,) which determines the size of said cuffs or the like; and means for severing said plies between the seams forming said pairs of closely spaced seams to thereby provide finished cuffs, or the like.

10. Apparatus according to claim 9 wherein said severing means is mounted at said second sewing station.

11. Apparatus according to claim 10. wherein said second swing station includes a double needle sewing machine having a vertically movable cutter mounted between the two needles, said sewing machine simultaneously forming said pairs of closely spaced seams and severing said plies.

12. Apparatus according to claim 9 wherein said first sewing station comprises a double needle sewing machine for forming said first and second longitudinal seams (9 and 10). g

13. Apparatus according to claim 10 wherein said folding means includes a folder having three substantially vertically stacked channels extending therethrough, the uppermost channel receiving said continuous strip second ply (8) and being arranged to fold a longitudinal edge portion (8a) of said second ply back on itself to clear said folded over portion of said first ply (6), the lowermost channel receiving said lining ply (6) and feeding said lining ply through said folder in an unfolded condition, and said centrally located channel receiving said continuous strip first ply (7) and being progressively'curved around said lowermost channel so as to fold a longitudinal edge portion (7a) of said continuous strip first ply (7) around a longitudinal edge portion (6a) of said continuous strip lin-' ing ply (6).

14. The method according to claim 1 wherein said continuously feeding and folding steps comprise:

feeding said continuous strips to a folding device, said folding device receiving said continuous strips and folding a longitudinal edge portion (7a) of said continuous strip first ply (7 around a longitudinal edge portion (6a) of said continuous strip lining ply (6), said folding device. concurrently folding a longitudinal edge portion (8a) of said continuous strip second ply (8) back on itself so as to clear said folded over portion of said first ply (7 and for simultaneously 

1. Method of fabricating a plurality of cuffs, or the like, from continuous strips of first (7) and second (8) plies and a continuous strip of lining ply (6), comprising the steps of: continuously feeding said first ply (7) overlying said lining ply (6) and said second ply (8) overlying said first first ply (7); continuously folding a longitudinal edge portion (7a) of said continuous strip first ply (7) around a longitudinal edge portion (6a) of said continuous strip lining ply (6) at a given work station, and simultaneously therewith continuously folding a longitudinal edge portion (8a) of said continuous strip second ply (8) back on itself at said given work station so as to clear a folded over portion of said first ply (7); simultaneously seaming said plies with first and second seams (9 and 10) at transversely opposed portions of said folded plies, said first seam (9) joining the free longitudinal edges of all of said plies and said second seam (10) joining said cleared and folded over portion (7a) of said first ply (7) and said edge portion (6a) of said lining ply (6), said first and second seams being formed in the longitudinal direction of said strips of plies; unfolding said folded back portion of said second ply (8); then seaming said plies with pairs of closely spaced seams (11 and 12), each said pair of seams being spaced from the next pair of seams by a predetermined distance (d1) which determines the size of said cuffs or the like, and which pairs of seams are substantially perpendicular to said first and second seams; and severing sections of said plies between the closely spaced seams (11 and 12) forming said pairs of seams to thereby provide finished cuffs or the like.
 2. The method according to claim 1 wherein said first ply (7) is a top cuff fabric ply and said second ply (8) is a bottom cuff fabrIc ply.
 3. The method according to claim 1 wherein said first and second seams (9 and 10) are formed on a single sewing machine.
 4. The method according to claim 1 wherein said seams (11 and 12) forming a pair of seams are formed simultaneously on a single sewing machine.
 5. The method according to claim 4 wherein said plies are severed between said seams (11 and 12) forming a pair of seams simultaneous with the forming of said pairs of seams by means of a movable cutter on said single sewing machine.
 6. The method according to claim
 5. wherein said plies are severed by reciprocating said cutter.
 7. The method according to claim 1 wherein said plies are severed between said seams (11 and 12) forming a pair of seams simultaneous with the forming of said pairs of seams.
 8. The method according to claim 1 comprising the step of turning said cuff to prepare same for attachment to a shirt or the like, after said severing step.
 9. Apparatus for fabricating cuffs, or the like, from continuous strips of first (7) and second (8) plies and a continuous strip of lining ply (6), comprising: means for continuously feeding said first ply (7) overlying said lining ply (6) and said second ply (8) overlying said first ply (7); a folding device (5) receiving said continuous strips from said feeding means and continuously folding a longitudinal edge portion (7a) of said continuous strip first ply (7) around a longitudinal edge portion (6a) of said continuous strip lining ply (6) at a given work station, and for simultaneously therewith continuously folding a longitudinal edge portion (8a) of said continuous strip second ply (8) back on itself at said given work station so as to clear a folded over portion of said first ply (7); a first sewing station for longitudinally seaming said plies simultaneously with first and second longitudinal seams (9 and 10) at transversely opposed portions of said folded plies, said first seam (9) joining the free longitudinal edges of all of said plies and said second seam (10) joining said cleared and folded over portion (7a) of said first ply (7) and said edge portion (6a) of said lining ply (6); a second sewing station for seaming said plies with pairs of closely spaced seams (11 and 12), which pairs of seams are substantially perpendicular to said first and second longitudinal seams, each said pair of seams being spaced from the next pair of seams by a predetermined distance (d1) which determines the size of said cuffs or the like; and means for severing said plies between the seams forming said pairs of closely spaced seams to thereby provide finished cuffs, or the like.
 10. Apparatus according to claim 9 wherein said severing means is mounted at said second sewing station.
 11. Apparatus according to claim
 10. wherein said second swing station includes a double needle sewing machine having a vertically movable cutter mounted between the two needles, said sewing machine simultaneously forming said pairs of closely spaced seams and severing said plies.
 12. Apparatus according to claim 9 wherein said first sewing station comprises a double needle sewing machine for forming said first and second longitudinal seams (9 and 10).
 13. Apparatus according to claim 10 wherein said folding means includes a folder having three substantially vertically stacked channels extending therethrough, the uppermost channel receiving said continuous strip second ply (8) and being arranged to fold a longitudinal edge portion (8a) of said second ply back on itself to clear said folded over portion of said first ply (6), the lowermost channel receiving said lining ply (6) and feeding said lining ply through said folder in an unfolded condition, and said centrally located channel receiving said continuous strip first ply (7) and being progressively curved around said lowermost channel so as to fold a longitudinal edge portion (7a) of said continuous strip first ply (7) around a longitudinal edge portion (6a) of said continuous strip lining ply (6).
 14. The method according to claim 1 wherein said continuously feeding and folding steps comprise: feeding said continuous strips to a folding device, said folding device receiving said continuous strips and folding a longitudinal edge portion (7a) of said continuous strip first ply (7) around a longitudinal edge portion (6a) of said continuous strip lining ply (6), said folding device concurrently folding a longitudinal edge portion (8a) of said continuous strip second ply (8) back on itself so as to clear said folded over portion of said first ply (7). 